Posting 31March2015, Week 3 Analysis: What an interesting night of dance! Nearly everyone improved in some way over last week. Some celebs were on, some off. One judge was a bit off, too—and it wasn’t Len. Too many of the pros were stingy on traditional dance content tonight, which ended up being a disservice to their students’ ability to learn a proper dance and to follow through smoothly in their movements. Here’s what happened tonight, in the order in which the contestants appeared: Actress Rumer Willis: Salsa. Judges’ score 8. My score 8-9. The positive: Gorgeous body, gorgeous dancer, advanced, athletic, sharp kicks, great lifts. This girl has it all, and she works very hard. The negative: Like too many other pros this week, the adorable Val did not include enough traditional dance content. Model Charlotte McKinney: Rumba*. Judges’ score 5-6. My score 5-6. The positive: The woman has gorgeous legs, she’s incredibly flexible from doing yoga every day, which showed repeatedly in last night’s dance, and she did some parts of her dance well and prettily. The negative: The dance did not flow; at times it was as disconnected as Charlotte’s lack of focus between her other jobs and her work for this dance. Again, Keo kept the choreography too thin, based on his impressions of what she could do well and on what made her look good and sexy. He’s actually a good choreographer (otherwise, the show wouldn’t have hired him); unfortunately, working with Charlotte didn’t allow us to see enough of what he can do. Bruno began his evaluation with a highly inappropriate and unrelated insult, something like, “Obviously you’ll never make it in quantum physics, but . . .” (Dude, think before you speak!) Kudos to Charlotte for handling Bruno’s misstep with silent grace. Football player Michael Sam: Salsa. Judges’ score 6. My score 6. The positive: Athletic, fun. He tries hard and wants to improve. The negative: The dance lacked a sufficient amount of traditional salsa content; too many lifts instead of salsa. Michael’s timing often was off. He needs to work on hip movement, flow/smoothness, and musicality for the faster dances. Musician Ryker Lynch: Salsa. Judges’ score 9. My score 9. The positive: Had more traditional salsa content than the couples before them. Sharp, fun, fast, energetic, captivating. Very good! Ryker’s in it to win it. The negative: It’s only week 3, so he needs to keep learning and improving techniques. Actress...

Dancing With The Stars: Week 2 Analysis: Is it really only week 2?! Some of these contestants perform as though they’ve been out there for six weeks already! Wow! That makes sense for the ones who came in with dance experience, but it’s extremely impressive for the newcomers to the dance world. Nearly everyone improved over last week. Tonight, most of the judges’ scores were on target; a few overshot the mark or slightly shortchanged an impressive performance. Here’s what happened tonight, in the order in which the contestants appeared: “Bachelor” Chris Soules: Cha-Cha. Judges’ score 5. My score 5-6. The negative: Lacked proper musicality, timing, sufficient rhythm, hip movement. The positive: Not bad for someone who had only 4 days to work on it. With more time and practice, with his great attitude still in place, he would have done better; if he has these for next week, we’ll see a better dance. Actress Suzanne Somers: Jive. Judges’ score 7. My score 6-7. The negative: Flicks/kicks should be sharper/more extended. She needs to get rid of her few remaining jitters and be a little less dependent on Tony. The positive: Energetic, enthusiastic; more confident, more fun, and much less nervous than last week. A much-better, more-entertaining dance than last week. She’ll probably keep improving. 3. ‘Shark’ Robert Herjavec: Foxtrot. Judges’ score 7. My score 7-8. The negative: Needs to remember all technical details, esp. to have an open/lifted chest. The positive: Nice frame, good rise and fall/footwork, good timing, smooth, graceful, clearly enjoyed himself, magnetic, entertaining. Very good for week 2. Model Charlotte McKinney: Cha-Cha. Judges’ score 6-7. My score 6. The negative: Choreography too thin/simple. The positive: Peppy. Good timing & rhythm. Better than last week. Again, beautiful, long legs. If she stays, as she goes along she’ll have to learn how to use those legs more effectively and how to position them, her feet, and her whole body better for dance. I don’t envision her breaking out of the middle of the pack to become a real contender. Football player Michael Sam: Foxtrot. Judges’ score 7. My score 7. The negative: Hard to transition from hours of football training/postures/movements into proper frameworks, straight posture (his “bum,” as Len calls it, really does stick out sometimes) and fluidity of dance, but . . . The positive: He’s doing quite well. Good rhythm, arm extension, timing. Shows much promise for continued improvement. Impressive and will keep moving up. Actress Rumer Willis: Cha-Cha. Judges’ score 8. My score 8-9....

Week 1: March 16, 2015, Spring Season: What a fabulous opening night! Everyone obviously worked hard and looked good. My informed opinions of the performances–mostly in order of the contestants’ appearances–and of the judges’ scores follow. I still don’t like that the first contestant out of the gate always gets cheated on scores. This time it was 14-year-old actress Willow Shields, whose enthusiastic and skilled cha-cha was given only a 6 but deserved at least a 7. She promises to give Rumer Willis and Nastia Liukin a hard run for the number-one position. Second out in a cha-cha was Robert Herjavec, the dark-haired, nice and nice-looking Shark from Shark Tank. He showed good expression, fun, enthusiasm, a beautiful smile and great attitude, some rhythm, and correctly pointed toes. He needs to work a bit more on musicality and to increase his hip work, which the judges also mentioned. His score of a 7 was probably fair for him, but because his dance was no better than Willow’s I’m irked that she was cheated. I think he’ll keep improving. Young, blond singer Riker Lynch was third. If he isn’t still a teenager, he doesn’t appear to be much beyond. His exciting, all-out jive of sharp kicks, excellent moves, and good timing with Allison earned a fair 8. He’s another one to watch. I’ll be curious to see how he performs in the slower dances. Model/actress Charlotte McKinney followed in a jive that lacked musicality and sharp kicks. To her credit, though, are very-long legs and a flexible frame. Her score of 5-6 was fair. Maybe she’ll keep improving—we’ll see. Fifth was singer Patti LaBelle in a smilingly graceful but careful foxtrot that revealed good musicality and accurate foot placement. She’s a gracious lady. A score of 6 was right for her. Next was “Bachelor” Chris Soules in a good jive with Witney. What a nice guy! He showed good musicality/rhythm, sharp kicks, fun, energy, charisma, and dedication. He needs to work on arm extension/placement and pointing his toes. A good job earned him a 6-7. I’m okay with that. Seventh came football player Michael Sam doing a cha-cha. A nice guy and a hard worker who did a nice job, especially when foot placement in dancing is much different from that in playing football. He has good rhythm and good timing. He needs to improve his foot work, and I think he will keep getting better. His score was 6-7, which is okay. Then came gymnast Nastia Liukin with Derek...

Dancing With The Stars judges Bruno, Carrie Ann, and Julianne were guests yesterday on “Live with Kelly and Michael” on CBS in New York City to get fans revved up for the show’s spring season starting next Monday, March 16th. They said that lots of new and interesting things will go on this season. One will be the live streaming of teams’ practice sessions, which at least one judge thinks some of the team members may forget about while they’re hard at work. The word “pregnant” was mentioned early on, but then dropped; Bruno said it wasn’t he, and Carrie Ann didn’t pop up and claim the condition, so the reference seems to have been to Julianne, but we’ll have to watch the show to find out and then meet back here on Tuesday to talk about...

Join the newsletter

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.

About Me

Professionally, after decades of employment for others, Vickie Weaver founded Writestyle in 1996 to provide writing, editing, proofreading, training, and more to clients worldwide. She has written and/or edited for “Coexistence Magazine” (national), “Ohio Magazine,” and various newspapers. In addition, she has edited or contributed to the writing of numerous books. Personally, she has won awards and publication for some of her poems and is compiling a book of her poetry. She enjoys music and dance, and strives for beauty and harmony in life.